Merchant Mariners at War

Merchant Mariners at War PDF Author: George J. Billy
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Thousands of cargo ships sailed in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of World War II manned by young men who braved blockades, torpedoes, and bombings to deliver vital supplies to the Allied forces and make victory possible. These mariners have received little if any credit; they are the forgotten group of "the greatest generation."

United States Merchant Marine Casualties of World War II, rev ed.

United States Merchant Marine Casualties of World War II, rev ed. PDF Author: Robert M. Browning, Jr.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786446005
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
The U.S. merchant marine played a critical, though often overlooked, role in World War II. This reference work provides a brief narrative of each of the recorded attacks on American-flagged merchant ships, as well as an accounting of the men and the ships, which were a part of this worldwide conflict. In addition to the wealth of data on the ships, their crews and cargoes, it depicts the exciting and often violent story of the hundreds of enemy attacks on convoys and lone merchant vessels. Evident within the narrative is the gallantry and sacrifice of naval gun crews and the merchant crewmen.

Heroes in Dungarees

Heroes in Dungarees PDF Author: Estate of: John Bunker
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612512054
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
A World War II merchant seaman, John Bunker takes a thorough look at the American merchant marines' significant contributions to the war effort. There are plenty of fascinating facts about their extensive supply operations, but the focus of the book is on the men and their often-heroic actions. Bunker draws from his own experiences to describe the action at sea and also includes the personal stories of many other civilian participants. It is an engaging portrayal of the courage, bravery, and ingenuity demonstrated by these merchant seamen. All theaters of operation using U.S. merchant ships are covered; in addition, Bunker provides information on events before the country entered the war when efforts were being made to build more ships and to recruit the men necessary to crew the huge fleet.

Fourth Arm of Defense

Fourth Arm of Defense PDF Author: Salvatore R. Mercogliano
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780945274964
Category : Merchant marine
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
This publication is the eighth in the series The U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War. The publication focuses on the sealift and logistic operations during the war and includes a number of photographs as well as sidebars detailing specific people and ships involved in the logistic operations. This historical pictorial reference would be of interest to students, historians, members of the military, specifically the Navy, and military leaders, veterans, Vietnam War veterans, and the U.S. merchant marines.

My Life As a US Merchant Marine in World War II

My Life As a US Merchant Marine in World War II PDF Author: Charles Hoffman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781500590147
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
This World War II US Merchant Marine memoir was written by Charles William Hoffman. This highly personal memoir of his days as a young man serving his country reflects the culture of that time. The US entry into WWII required immediate growth of US Merchant Marine capabilities. The Atlantic Ocean was a major strategic battle zone during WWII. The Merchant Marine participated in every landing operation by the US Marine Corps from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima. It took 15 tons of suppliers to support one soldier for one year at the front. During 1945 alone, the Merchant Mariners delivered 17 million pounds of cargo every hour, including ammunition, airplanes, fuel, PT boats and amphibious craft, tanks, jeeps, trucks, medicines, locomotives and food. Mariners delivered the goods when and where needed in every war theater.Charles W. Hoffman served his country on seven ships, including a United Nations mercy mission and a highly dangerous ammunition ship. He was 1 of only 7 who survived from his original group of 51 young men who left St. Louis, Missouri to serve their country by delivering the goods to serve all warfighters.

The United States Merchant Marine in World War I

The United States Merchant Marine in World War I PDF Author: Greg H. Williams
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476667039
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
During World War I, the American Merchant Marine meant dangerous duty. Sailors on cargo ships faced the daily threat of enemy submarines, along with the usual hazards of life at sea, and help was rarely close enough for swift rescues. Pre-war shipping in America depended mainly on foreign vessels, but with the outbreak of war these were no longer available. Construction began quickly on new ships, most of which were not completed until long after the end of the war. Drawing on contemporary newspapers, magazines and trade publications, and Shipping Board, Department of Commerce and Coast Guard records, this book provides the first complete overview of the American Merchant Marine during World War I. Detailed accounts cover the expansion of trans-Atlantic shipping, shipbuilding records 1914-1918, operating companies, ship losses from enemy action, the role of the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and mariner experiences.

The Mathews Men

The Mathews Men PDF Author: William Geroux
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698184726
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
“Vividly drawn and emotionally gripping." —Daniel James Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat From the author of The Ghost Ships of Archangel, one of the last unheralded heroic stories of World War II: the U-boat assault off the American coast against the men of the U.S. Merchant Marine who were supplying the European war, and one community’s monumental contribution to that effort Mathews County, Virginia, is a remote outpost on the Chesapeake Bay with little to offer except unspoiled scenery—but it sent an unusually large concentration of sea captains to fight in World War II. The Mathews Men tells that heroic story through the experiences of one extraordinary family whose seven sons (and their neighbors), U.S. merchant mariners all, suddenly found themselves squarely in the cross-hairs of the U-boats bearing down on the coastal United States in 1942. From the late 1930s to 1945, virtually all the fuel, food and munitions that sustained the Allies in Europe traveled not via the Navy but in merchant ships. After Pearl Harbor, those unprotected ships instantly became the U-boats’ prime targets. And they were easy targets—the Navy lacked the inclination or resources to defend them until the beginning of 1943. Hitler was determined that his U-boats should sink every American ship they could find, sometimes within sight of tourist beaches, and to kill as many mariners as possible, in order to frighten their shipmates into staying ashore. As the war progressed, men from Mathews sailed the North and South Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and even the icy Barents Sea in the Arctic Circle, where they braved the dreaded Murmansk Run. Through their experiences we have eyewitnesses to every danger zone, in every kind of ship. Some died horrific deaths. Others fought to survive torpedo explosions, flaming oil slicks, storms, shark attacks, mine blasts, and harrowing lifeboat odysseys—only to ship out again on the next boat as soon as they'd returned to safety. The Mathews Men shows us the war far beyond traditional battlefields—often the U.S. merchant mariners’ life-and-death struggles took place just off the U.S. coast—but also takes us to the landing beaches at D-Day and to the Pacific. “When final victory is ours,” General Dwight D. Eisenhower had predicted, “there is no organization that will share its credit more deservedly than the Merchant Marine.” Here, finally, is the heroic story of those merchant seamen, recast as the human story of the men from Mathews.

U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II

U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II PDF Author: Robert M. Browning
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 608

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Book Description
An account of the tremendous losses suffered by the American Merchant Marine during the war, identifying those ships flying under the American flag (including Philippine vessels) that the Coast Guard and the Navy documented as receiving damage or being lost through some action of the enemy, as well as the attendant circumstances of their loss. Browning uses the Coast Guard's determination of a war casualty, rather than the Navy's Survivors Statements, to define the entries. Includes an appended listing of poorly documented losses, and a glossary. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

African American World War II Casualties and Decorations in the Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine

African American World War II Casualties and Decorations in the Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine PDF Author: Glenn A. Knoblock
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 598

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Book Description
"This book is an account of the 2,445 African American men who were killed, wounded or decorated during World War II in the Navy, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine. In addition to detailing the circumstances and location of each loss, information of a more personal nature is often included. The book includes many pictures of the men profiled"--Provided by publisher.

Sea Lanes in Wartime

Sea Lanes in Wartime PDF Author: Robert Greenhalgh Albion
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Merchant marine
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description